Developer offers plan for amusement park in Silverdome

General Public-Coors Field here in Denver was built in a run-down part of town when it was built, but now that area is booming, mostly with sports restaurants. Same goes with the Pepsi Center, it is right next to SFEG and both of those have helped revitalise the S. Platte River area. If it is done properly a stadium can revitalise the surrounding community.

Now I have never been to Detroit so I have no idea what the area is like and where the stadium is and what condition it is in, but keep in mind that most amusement parks last longer than any stadium will. But if a stadium holds an amusement park once the stadium is done, so is the amusement park.

Well... I wouldn't say that new restaraunts constitutes a great economic turnaround... but it beats nothing I suppose.

But really, Dener may have got lucky with its stadium, but... it doesn't work most of the time. I mean look at stadiums and other "amuesment" facilities in big cities. Those places weren't nice areas that degraded once the stadium was installed. They were economically depressed long before the stadium came. Pro teams and amuesment facilties of all sorts do get money into a region... just not to the area right around the stadium that's always "supposed" to read the windfall of it.

Atlanta was the site of many such failures: the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the Georgia Dome, Omni/World Congress Center/CNN Center, Turner Field, and now Philips Arena are all (or soon will be) unsuccessful at one intended goal, boosting the economic health of their immediate surroundings.

And if I'm not mistaken, Detroit has had its share of failed redevelopment plans, too. Ford Field is supposed to be key in turning around the downtown area of the city. (Or was it the new baseball stadium?) We'll see how it works out. I have a feeling the Silverdome plan won't come to pass and if it does, it won't last for long.

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Denver deserved it's stadium to be great. I mean, after the new airport. ;)

P.S. Sorry.. had to say it..

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82
Technical Services - 2002
Frightzone Screamster - 2002

Something else that always helps this sort of stadium plan is to have teams that are somewhat competitive. Teams with losing records don't help.

Just some venting from a long time Lions and Tigers fan,

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Red Garter Rob-The only complaint I have against DIA is the Tipee like roof. What were they thinking?!?

Anyways, getting back to the topic. I do not like the idea of this. If a stadium couldn't bring up the surrounding area, what good is an amusement park going to do. Plus, as I have said before, stadiums rarely last more than 50 years. This stadium has already run most of its course, why put an amusement park in it?

Stadiums can last quite a long time (Fenway, Wrigley). It's just that the teams go through cycles every few decades where they demand new stadiums or they'll leave town. We pick up the bill for it. With proper care the Silverdome has an indefinite lifespan (IMO).

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Well, the same rule I applied to the Mouse thread goes here....as long as cities are willing to fork over THAT kind of money whoring themselves to these pro sports franchises, the *Corporate Welfare State* will remain intact. WHEN will the cities get a grip on reality and realize that the owners are *billionaires* who are just milking local governments of the funds badly needed elsewhere so that taxpayers can subsidize THEIR businesses. Sure, pro sports franchises DO bring in money, and LA is proof that even the mighty NFL can do what they want, but I have just about *lost it* with these owners complaining about losing money....absolutely ridiculous. If I buy a house for 100K and sell it ten years later for 200K (even throwing in money for taxes and repairs), I would be hard-pressed to claim I had LOST money on the deal....these franchises are *exponentially* increasing in value, and the POOR billionaires cry all the way to the bank (in Switzerland, of course)...

General Public-Throwing an amusement park in a building that was not meant for it isn't proper care.

When was the Silverdome built?

I mean proper care like maintaining the facilities. How will rides and (surprise!) people cause a stadium to have a shortened life?

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Amusement Park rides are pretty heavy duty pieces of machinery.

Yes, but how would they damage or decay this structure? It's not like they're going to hang them from the ceiling.

So are they going to use the Silverdome itself, or just tear it down and use the prpoerty? I see opinions pointing to both.

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? *** This post was edited by General Public on 12/24/2002. ***

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Jeff said:
While I do like Gund Arena, it was a hell of a lot easier to visit Richfield out in the "country," and it was a far better option for those from Akron.

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I'll have to disagree with that statement. I thought it was a huge pain to drive down 303 in bumper-to-bumper traffic to get to an event in Richfield. The traffic flow in and out of that place was horrible. I find it much easier to get in and out of downtown Cleveland to go to the Gund - which, IMO, is a better venue.

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Virtual Midway
http://www.virtualmidway.com

I'll give you that... but you were going the wrong way. ;) Turnpike to what used to be the 21 exit to 271... that was the route. Access was also easy for anyone taking 77 from Cleveland or Akron.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
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